I LOVE YOU DAD (AND MOM)

June 15, 2014 Laura Mazurek

I enjoyed looking through these old photos this morning to find photos of my dad, and I actually found a few of me and him together when I was little that I don't remember seeing before. I'm pretty sure the pic of him and my mom together on the bottom left were around the time she was pregnant with me. I found some similar ones of them opening gifts that were for when I was born.

Man I miss this man like crazy. In less than a month it will be 3 years since he has been gone. It's really hard to believe that. Something about 3's right now... In april we hit 3 years of being in our home, yesterday marked Roots & Feathers 3rd year in business... and now almost 3 years since my father took his life. Three significant events for me. Last night my friend Moorea walked all night in an 18 mile walk for suicide awareness and I was so touched that one of the people she was honoring last night was my daddy. It meant so very to me.

My mom and dad have been on my mind ALOT this week. Friday was a full moon and it was friday the 13th, which always reminds me of my dad. He always told me he was born on a friday the 13th and that always held some mystique to his personality. Yesterday was my mom's birthday! I thought about her all day. Her birthday is on flag day, so I celebrated by starting my Americana themed lookbook and wore my Frolic Vintage flag kimono all day. James and I also did a little bit of thrifting and went to the wine bar for a beer to cheers my mom's birthday with.

Ive had a few moments of real sadness over this week, but Im really trying to focus on the blessings of having them in my life, and as my parents, and taking what they taught me to heart. Continuing to live my dreams to their fullest and know that they are always watching and encouraging me, and even playing a big role in helping things work out for me. Two really amazing guardian angels. I'm starting to be okay with saying 'look mom' to the universe when I have something I want to show her, and just know that she knows. Our souls are connected so deeply even without their physical bodies here, their hearts know, I just feel it.

Happy birthday mom, and Happy Fathers day dad. I love you both so much and will never stop missing you. Thank you for still showing me you are here through the animals. I'm listening.

JACKAROO RANCH

June 7, 2014 Laura Mazurek

It's taken me two days just to upload all the photos from my vacation! I went on a 4 day trip to Wimberley with these rad ladies above. My family is made of some pretty strong ass women with big personalities! So its always so fun to be around them. I laugh like I never laugh around them. It has become an annual tradition to go with them once a year to a new place and its just about my favorite family tradition. I hope it continues forever.

We stayed at a place called Jackaroo Ranch, and I fell in love the moment we pulled up. A beautiful old country home with the river in its back yard, a beautiful back porch to sit on and bird watch, a hammock in the yard amongst beautiful tall cypress trees, privacy, and just a laid back feel that welcomes you and makes you feel at home.

I spent as much time as I could relaxing by the water, spending time alone with nature, reading in the hammock... I love that we spent so much time together as a family, but I also had moments of solitude to just bliss out and enjoy my surroundings.

The river was beautiful. We came at just the right time b/c Texas had just received a buttload of rain, so the river was pretty full. We actually watched it go down over the few days we were there, so it was obvious we made it just in time. The first 10 minutes we were there I couldn't help but RUN to the river, strip off my shorts and jump in. There was a spot where the water was rushing through the bridge and I just sat in it for about 1/2 hour letting the water crash over me. I could hear nothing but the sound of the water. It was heaven.

We did get out about the town a few times. Had some good food, visited some cute shops, found some amazing nature spots in town... my favorite being this huge hollowed out tree. I have a thing for holes in trees, so as soon as I spotted I begged my aunt to walk down there with me to take my picture in it. It was magical down in that area. We also found the best little gem shop Ive ever been to. I just adored so many little things I came across... like the image above with my shoes where there are leaf imprints in the stone. And a building in town that was made from not only normal rock you see on homes, but mixed in was petrified wood and crystal rocks. See them bigger below... Just so many fun little quirks in this town that really got my soul.

I taught my family how I take self portriats.. and as the first image suggests, it made me bust up laughing while I was doing it. I didn't take a whole lot, but I squeezed in a few.

The land and home we stayed at was just beautiful. I loved watching the sun set in the field behind the house... and when the gazebo was lit up at night it was just gorgeous. My cousin and I sat out in it one night for a few hours and talked while the june bugs flew all around us... and huge frog joined us too.

The beautiful rock walls...

My nanna's ears will probably be turning red after posting this photo... but this is what happens everytime we all get together. We had 9 bottles of liquor and they were all empty when we left. Two nights we played the game Taboo after getting drunk and it was just about the funnest most hilarious thing ive done in my life! Oh my god the words and phrases I learned that weekend! ha ha.

My favorite photo from the weekend is this one of me and my Nanna. She is such a soulmate.

And of course, I had to say goodbye to the river. Until next time Jackaroo Ranch...

Oh yeah, and I want to move to Wimberley now.

TOTAL RELAXATION AT ART SPA

June 5, 2014 Laura Mazurek

First of all, can I just say I have some fucking rad women in my life. Period. A few months back, the amazing girls who co-author the Bohemian Collective with me all pitched in and surprised me with a spa gift certificate for whatever I wanted to get, to pamper myself with as a thank you for the hard work I put into creating this site, and as a thank you for asking them to come on board with me and share the space. Needless to say, its the best thing Ive ever done. This site went from something I felt was drowning b/c I could not keep up with it myself on top of my day job, my own blog, and partnering with James company. It was such a big dream of mine and I felt like it was going down the drain b/c I just couldn't do it all. Asking for help was the best decision Ive ever made. And I love The Bohemian Collective more than I ever had before when it was just me. Having all of these amazingly rad spirited women collectively share their hearts in this one space... its been life changing. They inspire me! And my excitement for this site has grown exponentially since they came on board.

I was completely overjoyed and surprised when they generously gifted me this gift. I was having a hard time deciding when to use it, b/c something like this I didn't want to just use on a whim, I wanted it to be special. So about two months ago when I found out we were taking another women's trip I thought it would be perfect to kick it off with this massage. Right before I went to schedule it I found out the my aunt was also planning on getting a massage before the trip, so I sweet talked her into coming with me!

When we pulled up to this little building my heart melted. Right there in the middle of the bustling city was this little green gem tucked away that instantly felt like home. Then I walked inside and it completely reminded me of a little homey coffee shop in austin, from the chalk board menu, to beautiful cluttered things to pamper yourself with, to the earthy smell, to the paint and zen like decor, to the adorable girls who run the place. It was perfect. And it was the most laid back massage place Id ever been to in the city. My massage therapist was super sweet and gave me the BEST massage Ive ever had (and Ive had some damn good ones). Its like she intuitively knew my body already. If anyone goes to Art Body Spa in San Antonio, ask for Tiffany! Can't wait to go back to see her one day. And next time Ill take my time and take photos, and really get to look through all their goodies. We had hungry people waiting for us to pick up chinese when we were done, so we left quickly. But I made my aunt snap these two picks below before we left! The perfect way to start off a vacation. Ahhhhh.....

Ill be back with a ton of photos from our vacation in Wimberley!

PIECES OF LIFE

May 29, 2014 Laura Mazurek

Bella lounging with the shipping mailers

This week has been full of furry babies, good food, making orders and rain. Lots of rain. We actually got a pretty good flood at the river by our house. It should be just right to swim in in about a week I'm hoping!

It's been an emotional week too. We found out Violet had skin cancer and a few days after that we had her in the vet for surgery. She is doing really well! She has to wear a cone collar for two weeks, but we can handle that! We are just glad we caught it so early.

Bella has been a goofball all week. Lots of silly playing. She has decided the empty cubby above in our shipping mailer area is her new spot to chill while we work on printing shirts. She gets in it everytime! So so cute.

This week we made homeade burgers & fries... blackened salmon salad... pasta with zucchini, asian chicken & rice tacos... mmmmmmm... And over the weekend we went to a bbq at our friends house and lots of yummy food there too! Its been a good food week. :)

I worked on tons of orders for Roots & Feathers after my sale! Almost done, but still a few I won't be able to get to until I return home from vaca. I leave today and don't get back till monday evening. Luckily just I am leaving so James will be home all weekend to take care of Violet!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I have a few posts that will go up over the weekend, I just won't be here to respond. Peace!